Various constructions and techniques will be described below. However, nothing described herein should be construed as an admission of prior art. To the contrary, Applicants expressly preserve the right to demonstrate, where appropriate, that anything described herein does not qualify as prior art under the applicable statutory provisions.
Conventional x-ray tubes comprise a cathode, an anode and a vacuum housing. The cathode is a negative electrode that delivers electrons towards the positive anode. The anode attracts and accelerates the electrons through the electric field applied between the anode and cathode. The anode is typically made of metals such as tungsten, molybdenum, palladium, silver and copper. When the electrons bombard the target most of their energy is converted to thermal energy. A small portion of the energy is transformed into x-ray photons radiated from the target, forming the x-ray beam. The cathode and the anode are sealed in an evacuated chamber which includes an x-ray transparent window typically composed of low atomic number elements such as Be.
X-ray tubes are widely used for industrial and medical imaging and treatment applications. All x-ray imaging is based on the fact that different materials have different x-ray absorption coefficients. Conventional x-ray imaging techniques produce a 2-dimensional projection of a 3 dimensional object. In such process the special resolution along the x-ray beam direction is lost.
Although also based on the variable absorption of x-rays by different materials, computed tomography (CT) imaging, also known as “CAT scanning” (Computerized Axial Tomography), provides a different form of imaging known as cross-sectional imaging. A CT imaging system produces cross-sectional images or “slices” of an object. By collecting a series of projection images of the same object from different viewing angles, a 3-D image of the object can be reconstructed to reveal the internal structure to a certain resolution. Today CT technology is widely used for medical diagnostic testing, industrial non-destructive testing for example for inspection of semiconductor printed circuit boards (PCBs), explosive detection, and airport security scans.
In the semiconductor industry, the features on printed circuit boards are becoming smaller, and circuits with multi-layer architectures are becoming more common. There is an increasing demand for machines that can perform 3-D inspection at rapid speed. The most common medical CT scanners today use one x-ray tube that rotates around the patient and in the process takes hundreds of projection images necessary for re-constructing one slice image. The x-ray tube used in the medical CT scanners has a single electron emitting cathode and a single focal spot. For industrial inspection and in particular for PCB inspection, only a small number of projection images are taken from a narrow range of viewing angles. For this special purpose, several devices have been developed to generate multiple x-ray beams from multiple focal points on the anode surface. The purpose is to produce multiple projection images with different viewing angles without mechanically moving the x-ray tube. Such devices are all based on a thermionic cathode that produces the electrons. The electrons produced from the same cathode are steered to different points of the anode by complicated electrical and magnetic devices built inside the x-ray tube. This type of device is generally illustrated in FIG. 1. This device 1000 includes a thermionic cathode 1002 that emits a beam of electrons e which pass through an arrangement of focus and steering coils 1004, 1006, thereby directing the electron beam e onto different locations of an anode surface 1008 having multiple x-ray emitting focal points that produce x-rays 1010.
Another apparatus is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,770 and includes an x-ray source having a cathode for producing a steerable electron beam. A controller directs the electron beam to predetermined locations on a target anode. The user may flexibly select appropriate predetermined positions. A detector receives x-rays that are transmitted through the test object from each of the predetermined locations, and produces images corresponding to each of the predetermined locations. The images are digitized and maybe combined to produce an image of a region of interest. Alternatively, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,926,452 and 4,809,308, an electron beam is deflected in a circular scan pattern onto the tube anode in synchronization with a rotating detector that converts the x-ray shadow-graph into an optical image which is converted and viewed on a stationary video screen. A computer system controls an automated positioning system that supports the item under inspection and moves successive areas of interest into view. In order to maintain high image quality, a computer system also controls the synchronization of the electron beam deflection and rotating optical system, making adjustments for inaccuracies of the mechanics of the system. Such a device is generally illustrated in FIG. 2. The illustrative device 2000 includes a thermionic electron beam source 2002 which generates an electron beam e that passes through an arrangement of focus coils 2004, 2006 that direct the beam onto a tube angle 2008, thereby generating a pattern of x-rays 2010.
A third way to get x-ray beams emanating from different angles is to mechanically rotate a single beam x-ray tube/source, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 3.
Although the above listed techniques can serve the purpose, these single electron beam based x-ray inspection have several drawbacks related to limitations in resolution, limited viewing angles, cost and efficiency. These prior devices and techniques suffer from a common drawback in that they all rely on one single source of electrons to generate x-rays and obtain multiple images of the PCBs from different angles. Thus, inherently they are slow and cannot simultaneously generate multiple images of the object under inspection from different angles. In addition, they all require mechanical motion of either the x-ray source or the x-ray detector, which will lead to inconsistency in x-ray focus spot size and imaging quality. Furthermore, these x-ray systems all rely on thermionic electron emitters which are sensitive to temperature, require long warm up time, and can not turn on/off easily, thus they can not be easily programmed and waste large amount energy and x-ray system lifetime.
The concept of field-emission x-ray tubes has been investigated. In such devices a field emission cathode replaces the thermionic filament. Electron field emission can be accomplished via a simple diode mode where a bias voltage is applied between the target and the cathode. Electrons are emitted from the cathode when the electrical field exceeds the threshold field for emission. A triode construction can also be employed wherein a gate electrode is placed very close to the cathode. In such configurations, electrons are extracted by applying a bias field between gate electrode and the cathode. The field-emitted electrons are then accelerated by a high voltage between the gate and the anode. Here the electron current and energy are controlled separately.
Recently discovered carbon nanotubes have larger field enhancement factors (β), thus lower threshold fields for emission are required relative to conventional emitters such as Spindt-type tips. Carbon nanotubes are stable at high currents. A stable emission current of 1 μA or greater has been observed from an individual single-walled carbon nanotube and an emission current density greater than 1 A/cm2 from a macroscopic cathode containing such material, has been reported. Carbon nanotubes are also thermally stable and chemically inert. These properties make carbon nanotubes attractive electron field emitters for field emission x-ray devices.
FIG. 4 and its inset show the typical emission current-voltage characteristics of a CNT cathode. It shows the classic Fowler-Nordheim behavior with a threshold field of 2 V/μm for 1 mA/cm2 current density. Emission current density over 1 μA/cm2 was readily achieved. Field emitted electrons from carbon nanotubes have a very narrow energy and spatial distribution. The energy spread is about 0.5 eV and the spatial spread angle in the direction parallel to the electrical field is 2-5° degree half angle. The potential of using carbon nanotubes as a cold-cathode has been demonstrated in devices such as the field emission flat panel displays (FEDs), lighting elements, and discharge tubes for over-voltage protection.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,772 entitled “Device Comprising Carbon Nanotube Field Emitter Structure and Process for Forming Device”, the disclosure of which is incorporated hereby by reference, in its entirety, discloses a carbon nanotube-based electron emitter structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,096 entitled “X-Ray Generating Mechanism Using Electron Field Emission Cathode”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, discloses an x-ray generating device incorporating a cathode formed at least in part with a nanostructure-containing material.
U.S. patent application Publication No. US-2002/0094064, entitled “Large-Area Individually Addressable Multi-Beam X-Ray System and Method of Forming Same”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, discloses structures and techniques for generating x-rays which includes a plurality of stationary and individually electrically addressable field emissive electron sources.
U.S. Pat. No. Application Publication No. US 2004-0028183 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Controlling Electron Beam Current”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, discloses an x-ray generating device which allows independent control of the electron emission current by piezoelectric, thermal, or optical means.
U.S. patent application Publication No. US-2002/0140336, entitled “Coated Electrode with Enhanced Electron Emission and Ignition Characteristics”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, discloses a coated electrode construction which incorporates nanostructure-containing materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,939 entitled “Nano-Material Based Electron Field Emission Cathodes for Vacuum and Gaseous Electronics”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, discloses electronics incorporating field emission cathodes based at least in part on nanostructure-containing materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,292 entitled “Solid State CT System and Method”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, disclose an x-ray source including a cathode formed from a plurality of addressable elements.
U.S. patent application Publication No. US-2002/0085674 entitled “Radiography Device With Flat Panel X-Ray Source”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, discloses a radiography system having a solid state x-ray source that includes a substrate with a cathode disposed thereon within a vacuum chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,292 entitled “X-Ray Generator”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, discloses an x-ray generator which includes a cold field-emission cathode. The emissive current of the cathode can be controlled by various means.
Thus, it is highly desirable to have an x-ray imaging system which can generate multiple beams of x-ray simultaneously from different positions and radiation angles. Utilizing nanostructure-containing field emissive cathodes, the present invention provides methods and apparatus for making such multi-beam x-ray imaging systems, and techniques for their use.